Cane-cutting machine.



J. R. BROWN.

l GANE CUTTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED IIAY 2e, 190s. RENEWED PEB. 19, 1910.

@539mg Patented Mar. 29, 1910.

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CANE-CTTNG MAC/BENE Specification of Letters Patent.

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Application filed May 28, 1908, Serial No. 435,551. Renewed February 19, 1910. Serial No. 544,908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, JOHN R. BROWN, citizen of the Dominion of Canada, residing at Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, Canada, have invented a new and useful improvement in Cane-Cutting lviachines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a mechanically operated knife for cutting down sugar cane in the field and my object has been to provide a power operated knife for this purpose and to mount that knife in such a manner that it may be conveniently manipulated to cut down canes which may be inclined at various angles to the ground, and also to strip o the leaves and top the canes.

The work of cutting sugar cane is particularly arduous not only on account of the hardness of the actual work, but also because of the climatic conditions under which the cane grows, and on the latter account cannot be undertaken by white men, but only by those who are accustomed to outdoor work in the tropics. rlhe soft and uneven nature of the ground in which sugar canes are cultivated imposes limitations on the weight and character of the machine with which this work can be performed and the machine which is the subject of this application has been devised to meet the requirements. In it l provide a circular revolving knife forwardly projected on a light arm from the body of the vehicle on which it is carried and this forwardly projected portion of the mechanism is susceptible of being angled axially so that the plane of the cutting may be laterally manipulated by the handle by which the machine is pushed forward. rlhis manipulation of the revolving knife taken in conjunction with the facility of movement of the vehicle on which it is carried affords the desired mobility for the purpose required.

rlhe invention is particularly described in the following specification, and illustrated in the drawings by which it is accompanied, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation with near wheel removed, Fig. 2, a plan, Fig. 3, an end elevation and part section on the line fr A in F ig. l and, Fig. a, a detail of the guard for the cutting knife. F 5 and G are detail views showing manner of adjustably pivoting the knife carrying member 16 to the end of the rod 10.

Mounted on the axle which connects a pair of light independently movable wheels 2 is a frame 3, having guides l adjacent to the axle, within which guides are verticali)r slidable, by means of a screw and hand wheel 5, columns 6 supporting a bearing 7 which carries a tubular member l() in a manner that the member l() is susceptible of partial retatien in the bearing. rlhe back end of the member 10 is carried in a bearing 11 which is mounted on trunnions in a backwardly projecting portion of the frame 3 so that as the bearing 7 is raised or lowered by the screw 5 the bearing 11 will adapt itself to the elevation or depression.

Secured to the tubular member 10 is a motor frame 12 which carries the knife operating motor and also checks endwise movement of the member 1() in the bearing 7. The frame 1:2, as before stated, is secured to the tubular member 10 to turn therewith and the member' 12 engages both ends of the bearing 7, thus the member' 10 and its attached frame 12 may be oscillatedwitl'i relation to the bearing Y but endwise movement of the member 10 in the bearing 7 will be prevented by the frame 1Q. abutting the ends of the bearing rlhe circular cutting knife 15 is eccentrically mounted in a member 1G hinged to the forwardly project-ing end of the tubular member 10 and is driven from the motor 13 by a shaft 1'? through a universal joint 18 and bevel gears 19. The member 16 may be set by means ef a segment 1a te any desired angle in relation to the tubular member 10 on the end of which such member 16 is carried without alteration of the drive mech anism, the member 16 being secured in its adjust-ments by the set screw 16x engaging the segment 11i which passes through a slot in the bearing member lf3-V that is carried on the tubular member 10.

@n the after end of the tubular member 10 is pivotally mounted a handle in a manner that will permit of the handle being adjusted in its height from the ground as shown by det and dash lines in Fig. l.

ltith this construction the cutting knife 15 may by means of the handle 25 be manipulated either laterally er vertically by the movement of t-he vehicle frame on its wh eels, and in addition the tubular member 10 carrying the revolving knife and its motor, may be angled axially to either side as indicated by the dot and dash lines in Figs. 1

and 3, which facility of lateral angularl movement enables the cutting plane of the knife to be applied in the most advantageous manner to the canes which may happen to be inclined to the ground, or to be turned as shown by dot and dash lines in Fig. l to strip the leaves. The angling of the cutting knife downward enables a favorable oblique cut to be made or brings the knife to an approximately horizontal plane when itis elevated for topping.

For stripping or topping, a guard 20 is removably secured to the hinged member 16 adjacentI to the plane of rotation of the knife 15, as shown in Fig. il, which guard is provided with gullets 21 angled inward in the direction of rotation of the knife so as to secure and hold up to the cut of the knife leaves or canes which when stripping or topping might spring away froml it. rlhe depth of these gullets corresponds approximately to the eccentric throw of the knife.

Pivotally mounted on the axle frame and angled upward therefrom is a guard 22 designed to shed the cut canes clear of the machine. s it is desired to shed them to one side of the machine the guard as shown in F ig. 2 is angled backward from one side to the other. lt is adjustably supported by a tie rod Q3 from an upward ei;- tension 9.a of the frame 3 which tie rod is flexibly connected to the guard and notched or otherwise rendered adjustable in its connection to 2st.

The gears 19 and universal joint are protected from entanglement with the cut leaves or herbage by a shield 26 and the wheel centers are either constructed of thin sheet metal disks or if made with spokes they are provided with thin sheet metal disks that will prevent the herbage from. getting entangled with the spokes.

Having now particularly described my invention and the manner of its use, 1 hereby declare that what 1 claim as new and desire to be protected in by Letters latent, is:

1. 1n a machine of the class described, a wheeled vehicle, an arm projecting therefrom, a rotatable knife mounted at the end of said arm and means whereby the knife carrying end of said arm may be raised or lowered with relation to the rest of the arm, and means whereby the entire arm may be raised or lowered on the axis of the vehicle as a pivot and swung laterally with relation to the vehicle on which it is carried.

Q. 1n a machine of the class describen, a wheeled vehicle frame having independently movable wheels, an arm forwardly projecting from the wheeled frame, said arm being susceptible of rotation in its mounting on the wheeled frame, a member hinged to the projecting end of said arm and a circular knife rotatably mounted on said member.

in a machine of the class described, a wheeled vehicle frame having independently movable wheels, an arm forwardly projecting from the wheeled frame, said arm being susceptible of rotation in its mounting on the wheeled frame, a member hinged to the projecting end of said arm, a circular knife rotatably mounted on said men ber, and means for imparting rotary movement to such knife.

d. 1n a machine of the class described, a wheeled frame, an arm mounted inv bearings in said frame to be susceptible of angular movement on its axis, a circular knife rotatably mounted at the forward end of said arm, means carried by said arm through the medium of which the knife carrying end of the arm may be elevated or depressed, or axially angled and by which the vehicle may be handled.

5. 1n a machine of the class described, a wheeled vehicle, a vertically adjustable frame mounted on said wheeled vehicle, an arm carried by said frame and rotatable in bearings of the frame, a motor mounted on said arm, a frame hinged to the forward end of the arm and acircular knife rotatably mounted on said last named frame and means for transmitting motion from the motor to the knife to operate the same.

6. 1n a machine of the class described, a wheeled vehicle, a vertically adjustable frame mounted on said wheeled vehicle, an arm carried by said frame and rotatable in bearings of the frame, a motor mounted on said arm, a frame hinged to the forward end of the arm. a circular knife rotatably mounted on said last named frame, means for transmitting motion from the motor to the knife to operate the same, a handle secured to said arm by means of which the arm may be manipulated.

7. 1n a machine of the class described, a wheeled frame having independent operating wheels, a vertically adjustable arm carrying frame mounted in the wheeled frame, means for adjusting said arm carrying frame, said arm carrying frame having a bearing, an arm rotatably mounted in said bearing, means for preventing longitudinal movement of the arm in said bearing, a rotatable knife mounted at the forward end of said arm, and a handle member connected with said arm through the medium of which it may be manipulated.

S. ln a machine of the class described, a wheeled frame having independent operating wheels, a vertically adjustable arm carrying frame mounted in the wheeled frame, means for adjusting said arm carrying frame, said arm carrying frame having a bearing, an arm rotatably mounted in said bearing, means for preventing longitudinal movement of the arm in said bearing, a rotatable knife mounted at the forward end of said arm, a handle lnembelf connected Wlth Salcl arm through the lneclluln. of Whleh it may be manipulatecl7 a motor Seemed to name to this spectlcaton in the pesenee of tWe subsicrlhlng Wltnesses.

JOHN

T) ib.

BRN.

Vgl tnesses ROWLAND Bm'r'rAIN,

@LIVE S. UARMAN. 

